Identification of a novel virus in pigs--Bungowannah virus: a possible new species of pestivirus.

In 2003 an outbreak of sudden deaths occurred in 3-4-week-old piglets on a farm in New South Wales, Australia. There was a marked increase in the birth of stillborn foetuses. Pathological changes consisted of a multifocal non-suppurative myocarditis. A viral infection was suspected but a wide range of known agents were excluded. A modified sequence independent single primer amplification (SISPA) method was used to identify a novel virus associated with this outbreak. Conserved 5'UTR motifs, the presence of a putative N(pro) coding region and limited antigenic cross-reactivity with other members of the Pestivirus genus, support the placement of this virus in the Pestivirus genus. Phylogenetic analysis of the 5'UTR, N(pro) and E2 coding regions showed this virus to be the most divergent pestivirus identified to date.